Don't Return!

The 65th day since contact with Earth had been severed.

About 15 billion kilometers from the Sun, aboard the Deep Space spacecraft in orbit around Luoshen Star, Li Qingsong slumped weakly against his chair, staring blankly at the final message from the human world.

He had to admit that he probably truly could not return to Earth.

Twelve years ago, he had arrived here aboard the Deep Space, becoming the first human in history to leave the Heliosphere.

The high-energy charged particles released by the Sun had blown a massive "bubble" into the interstellar medium. That bubble was the Heliosphere.

Because of the Sun's existence, that interstellar medium could not enter the Heliosphere.

Here, he had worked alone for two years and successfully completed the planned Dwarf Planet exploration mission.

After that, he had made every preparation to return to Earth. All he needed was for the Earth team of the Deep Space Exploration Program to upload a return trajectory plan to the spacecraft, and he could take this ship back to the home he had been away from for so long.

Everything had remained normal until 65 days ago. But on the day the return trajectory plan was supposed to begin uploading, Li Qingsong received no data from the Earth team. He received only a single sentence.

"Don't come back! Don't return!"

After that, Li Qingsong lost contact with Earth. No matter how many messages he sent, Earth never replied again.

Something must have happened in that distant homeland. And it had been extremely urgent—so urgent that the Earth team had only been able to send him that one sentence.

"My family, my friends, my fellow citizens... are you still there?

"Is our civilization... still there?"

Li Qingsong stared blankly through the porthole toward where Earth lay.

The distance was so great that he could not see Earth at all. Even with the Optical Telescope installed aboard the spacecraft, he could see only a dim, blurry point of light.

He could not obtain any useful information from that faint point of light.

At that moment, he could not even determine whether Human Civilization still existed, much less figure out what had happened on Earth.

"Did you even need to warn me? Without a return trajectory plan from you, how am I supposed to return..."

As he gazed into the boundless Sea of Stars, the enormous Deep Space spacecraft and the even more massive Luoshen Star below seemed as insignificant as drops in an ocean.

Endless loneliness and terror swept over Li Qingsong, causing the hallucination that medication had suppressed to return once more.

Several years earlier, perhaps because he had left the Heliosphere, escaped the Sun's protection, and been affected by some unknown radiation, Li Qingsong had inexplicably begun suffering from a hallucination.

He always felt that his consciousness could extend into other people's minds and even control their actions.

Even Earth's medical team could not determine the cause of Li Qingsong's inexplicable hallucination. After all, Li Qingsong was the first human to leave the Heliosphere. There was no one else to compare him with.

Fortunately, the psychiatric prescription the doctors had given him had proved fairly effective. After taking the medication carried aboard the spacecraft at regular intervals and in prescribed doses, the hallucination had not appeared for a long time.

But now, it had appeared again.

Feeling that inexplicable hallucination, Li Qingsong laughed bitterly to himself. There isn't anyone around for tens of billions of kilometers. No, maybe I'm the only person left in the entire Solar System. Who could I possibly control?

He struggled to his feet and took his medicine, but the hallucination still did not disappear. Li Qingsong stopped paying attention to it and forced himself to calm down and consider what he should do next.

But that deliberation ended after only a few minutes.

Because the answer was obvious.

There was nothing to be done.

Without help from the Earth team, he could not return to Earth. If he forced his way back, the only possible outcome would be running out of energy and becoming lost in space.

Since that was the case, he might as well conserve energy. But no matter how frugal he was, the spacecraft's energy and supplies could sustain him for at most another fifteen years.

After fifteen years, he would still die.

Could he find a way to survive on Luoshen Star, this Dwarf Planet far from the Sun?

Impossible.

He was alone. His power was far too limited.

His future fate had already been decided. There was nothing he could do, nothing he could change. The only thing he could do was accept fate's arrangements, waste away aboard the spacecraft, and wait until the supplies or energy ran out before dying.

"Fine. Fine..."

Looking at the vast starry sky beyond the porthole, Li Qingsong muttered, "When some critical life-support supply is only enough to last one final day, I'll eat a huge meal, then jump into space and end it myself. At least I won't have to suffer through dying."

For a while afterward, Li Qingsong completely abandoned his formerly strict schedule and began indulging himself without restraint.

At first, Li Qingsong somewhat enjoyed that indulgence. But after only two months, he lost all interest in everything.

He lay blankly on his bed. Even though hunger burned in his stomach, he did not want to move even a finger.

The hallucination grew increasingly intense.

Li Qingsong finally struggled to his feet and made his way to the Flora and Fauna Cultivation Room.

There were several animal clone cultivation devices here. A few were small, while only one was large enough.

It had originally been intended to cultivate large mammals such as cattle, horses, and donkeys for experiments.

Theoretically, it could also be used to cultivate human clones. It was simply that cloning humans carried excessive ethical and moral risks, so no one in all of Human Civilization had dared to do it.

But now, Li Qingsong no longer cared about such things.

He took a cell sample from his own body, first reprogrammed it into Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, then used gene-editing tools to alter several DNA sequences. Finally, he placed the cell sample into the largest clone cultivation device.

Half a year later, Li Qingsong's clone would be fully grown. It would not be in the form of an infant, but would instead have the same form as Li Qingsong did now as an adult.

"Since this hallucination keeps bothering me, I'll make someone and try it out!"

Half a year later, another Li Qingsong had been cultivated inside the Culture Pod, identical down to the shape and placement of every mole on his skin.

After removing it from the Culture Pod and placing it on a bed, Li Qingsong silently waited for the clone to awaken.

After a long while, the clone slowly opened its eyes.

"Hmm... no self-awareness, only some instinctive biological responses. Normal."

After examining it, Li Qingsong gritted his teeth and, following the guidance of his hallucination, extended his consciousness toward it.

The next moment, Li Qingsong's eyes widened in utter shock.

He felt as though he possessed two brains and two bodies!

Moreover, he could control both brains to think at the same time and both bodies to act at the same time!

It was not a hallucination!